27 May – 11 July 2021
‘Crossing Oceans’ is an invited group of international artists, each offering their own unique perspective on the chosen theme of Nature.
The Group then decided on the next theme ‘ Journeys’ which again encouraged each member to bring a distinctive and dynamic approach to this theme.
Crossing Oceans International Exhibiting Group has been exhibiting together since 2013 and consists of 13 artists from nine different countries, the majority are travelling teachers.
They are well known textile artists in their own countries as well as abroad, consistently exhibiting in international and juried exhibitions. The group’s ethos is to use quilting as an artistic medium and to encourage people to think of these quilts as an art form.
The initial exhibition’s theme was ‘Nature’ and each artist submitted six works interpreting nature in their own unique way . The ‘Nature’ exhibition was accepted and displayed at the Festival of Quilts , Birmingham Beaujolais International exhibition Textile Art, France European Patchwork Meeting , St Marie and Mines, France, Russian Quilt Festival, Moscow Russia, Quilt en Sud Biarritz, France, and Prague patchwork Meeting , Czech Republic
My first love is colour, which I use in my own, unique, recognisable way. Line, shape and texture follow closely. My way of seeing is informed by my early study and practice of photography.
I work in series: music; Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets; nature; the urban environment; maps and aerial views; magic and science; the interpretation of ideas.
Maps are an ancient and important part of mankind’s need to understand the world, and I have created many interpretations of them. Issues such as climate change have informed my work.
More recently, I have been experimenting with digital design, and my latest work reflects this.
In the end, what I want to express in my textile work, whatever the theme, is colour and beauty, and the pleasure of creation.
We have a very international household. Growing up in unspoiled New Zealand, I developed a strong love of nature, which I share with my Norwegian-born husband Bård. We have lived in several European countries, and in Pennsylvania, USA, for 20 years. That was where my quilting journey started….and it is now well into another phase with our family move to Australia, continuing our International lifestyle. Our son David was born in England, and is now here in Australia with us.
Nature is a constant source of inspiration for me. There I find endless variety of shape and texture, all with its own innate logic of geometry and coloration. My quilts are often intricately realistic in detail, and require a lot of research.
After more than 20 years of quilting, this whole field is more fascinating than ever. It even seems to change faster all the time, with new ideas and means of expression,- stretching the borders and embracing the entire creative spectrum.
Art Quilts are my passion today, and my development has taken me from traditional quilts to pictorial quilts, miniatures and abstract, with an emphasis on surface embellishment. I have no formal art or textile training, but I sure have been to a great school of experience. Until recently, I have also enjoyed teaching, which has been remarkably rewarding – and while I no longer conduct workshops, I have started the process of making a series of teaching videos, on what I do and how I do it.
I have been very fortunate; many of my quilts have been award winners at Local, National and International exhibits, and have been published in premier quilt magazines. The best part is that Bård shares my love of quilting. He is a constant influence on my work, and while he doesn’t sew, he enjoys being part of the whole process.
I enjoy being with family and friends, and when I am not quilting, I spend time gardening, traveling, cooking and listening to music, all of which I share with my husband. When he isn’t working with me on a quilt, he is a keen sailor, and enjoys reading and working on his computers. He was also the photographer for the Sydney Quilt Show (a lot of work) which he thoroughly enjoyed.
Jane’s love of fabrics and all things creative can been seen throughout her life. Before having a family, she had a career as an art teacher and whilst living in Hong Kong this love for fabrics turned into a passion for patchwork and quilting. On her return to the UK she undertook various City and Guilds creative textile courses and rapidly started gaining awards, alongside teaching at nearby colleges.
Jane’s greatest joy is sharing her tips and knowledge with her students who attend her workshops and with those who attend any one of the popular lectures which have been given throughout the UK and Europe.
Jane splits her time between her home in Yorkshire, UK and the Charente, France. She can often be spotted on the various ferry crossings as she travels to and fro giving lectures and workshops or demonstrating and judging at National Quilt Exhibitions.
As with most quilters my fascination for fabric started at an early age playing with my grandmother’s scrap bag. Although she herself wasn’t a dressmaker she had a wonderful collection of exotic fabrics from the clothes that she had made for her in the 1920s and 30s. The velvets and satins and laces were wonderfully tactile to a small child and I am sure she had endless hours of peace and quiet when the scrap bag was produced! My mother, however, was a prolific dressmaker and so the house was full of colourful cottons and my first piece of patchwork was made at age 11!
Over the years when my own children were young I produced various small quilts and for a short time ran a small business designing and making children’s appliquéd garments. Then in 1990 an opportunity arose to take part in the first City and Guilds Patchwork and Quilting course in Scotland. Naturally I jumped at the chance and become enthralled with the endless possibilities of working with colour and fabric.
Until then I had been working as an occupational therapist but the pull of a more creative career was getting harder to resist. So, when a friend asked if I would go into business with her and establish Scotland’s first dedicated patchwork and quilting shop there was no hesitation in saying yes! And so began ten very exciting years with the shop Purely Patchwork in Linlithgow, Scotland.
The shop soon established itself as a leader in terms of the variety of fabrics available and the standard and quality of the classes taught. It attracted custom from all over the UK and further afield and tutors visited from around the globe to impart their knowledge and skills to enthusiastic students.
After ten years of running the business it was time for another change of direction to allow me to spend more time developing my own work and teaching specialist classes. 2004 become a very challenging and rewarding time in terms of establishing a studio in Central Scotland. Commissions were awarded to me for public buildings and private and public collections. This is an aspect of my work that I find very exciting and rewarding. A studio move in 2009 to a lovely light and sunny space in an arts complex in Edinburgh city centre brought another focus to my work. The “Creative Journey” courses that I had been teaching in Central Scotland became established again. These courses encourage students to step out of their comfort zone in order to explore the design elements to produce unique and individual pieces of work. Now that the teaching is established we have been given an opportunity for my students and I to exhibit annually on the Fringe of The Edinburgh International Festival.
So the journey continues physically as well as metaphorically. I love to travel both around my home country as well as further afield. As my own horizons grow literally, then so too do the experiences that I can then express in my quilt making. I feel that each collection of quilts has its own unique identity and captures the essence of my view of the country or city.
My work is now widely exhibited both in the UK, Europe and in the USA and has brought me some wonderful awards.
Laura Wasilowski is a textile artist and creator of hand-dyed fabrics and threads. Her pictorial art quilts (created from fused fabrics and hand-embroidered or machine quilted) are collected and exhibited internationally. Wasilowski’s free-form embroideries share a similar style with her narrative quilts. Whimsical in nature, both textile art forms express her joy and love of creating art. Owner of the dye shop, Artfabrik, Laura is also a lecturer, surface designer, quilt instructor, pattern designer, and author of Fusing Fun, Fuse-and-Tell, Fanciful Stitches, Colorful Quilts, and her latest book Joyful Stitching: Transform Fabric with Improvisational Embroidery.
Artist Statement
I combine vivid fabrics and whimsical stories to make pictorial art quilts. My colorful, hand-dyed fabrics inspire me, as do stories of my family, friends, and home. These pieces often chronicle my life. Each wall piece I make is of my own design, of fused appliqué, and machine quilted. Creating with fused fabric allows my work to be joyful, organic, and more inventive. It is the most direct route from a design idea in my head to the realization of that idea in fabric. The art of quilting gives me the freedom to express myself and play at the same time. It’s the best job in the world!
Born and grown up in Taiwan, Lin Hsin-Chen is a fiber artist who has been devoting herself to creation, organizing exhibitions and teaching for 20 years. I often lead students or groups to work together on large-sized collective works. Global environmental issues are always my concerns, so I put my observation and reflection into my works and writings.
Learning experience of fiber art originates deeply from life instinct; it is the creations of integration encompassed a culture of life. I put all my effort into expanding my horizons to achieve the goal for design and make every detail well-connected to one another. To go beyond the limitation, sometimes I have to break the given standards to pursue the ultimate spirit. Needles and threads are like my mentors; they lead me to absorb and mature. My thoughts and feelings are well-expressed in various forms and beyond boundaries through the narrative talents of works. The unlimited inspirations of Nature are my ideas for creation. I love to play with various kinds of fabrics. Exploring possibilities of combination always brings me new visions. I comprehend the delicate sentiment of every stitched fabric; it is an extension of a unique and moving story. Just like a storybook-a rich loaded with people’s thoughts and feelings. Artworks are more than themselves; they are like “intellectuality” that people can peruse. This meaning of creation gets involved in each work and absorbs the subtle relationship to lines, colors and needles and threads.
Galla is a multifaceted woman, her artistic career encompassing many different themes.
Her textile art is well known, but also, she still designs and creates jewelry, likewise clothes, restores furniture, photographs, draws and paints, even on walls. She is a very versatile artist.
Her academic training was in Russia, since she is of Russian origin, although she currently lives in France. She graduated from the National School of Fine Arts in Venetsianov, in interior decoration specialty.
She likes to mix different techniques and to experiment with new challenges. Her creativity seems inexhaustible, and this is reflected in those works of art of such diverse fields.
« I have always been fond of mythology in different cultures, and in my work, there are many pieces that touch on the topic of legends and myths. »
I am compelled to study light and shadow, movement and curve. Often described as “bold” and “sensual”, my art focuses on using value contrasts to intensify visual impact. The subjects depicted are a visual celebration of the drama unfolding in the natural world. I am always aiming to evoke the emotion, awe and wonder I experience when I first encounter my subjects. Foliage, trees, flowers, and nature’s cycles serve as metaphors for my inner world and allow communication and connection with the world through universally-understood themes of personal growth, wonder, self-acceptance, loss and healing, joy, and the cycles of life.
I made my first quilt when I was in high school. I have always made things, and I love the process of creating. In college I majored in Art History and minored in ceramics, but I returned to fiber because it was more satisfying. I can’t remember when I didn’t sew. For years my focus was designing and making clothing. All that changed in 1992, however, when I was in fashion design and realized that all I wanted to do was make quilts. I have been designing and making original art quilts ever since.
I find each step of quilt making, from the beginning to the end, a real challenge. It is hard to say what part I like best. I love the pure creativity involved in conceiving and designing a new quilt. I love to piece and I love to fuse. I have found that by fusing smaller pieces, I can work out design issues. Then I like to make a bigger, bolder statement and piece the same quilt in a large format. Most of my work is machine quilted and nature inspired.
I discovered hand dyeing fabric 30 years ago, and I now work almost exclusively with my own hand dyed cottons and silks. I love the dye process, and I particularly enjoy seeing the colors emerge from the wet fabric.
I live in Northern Ireland. In 1985 I went to a talk about appliqué in the Northern Ireland Patchwork Guild. I decided that I would have a go. I was not interested in reproducing traditional patterns so my early work was machine appliqué. I also joined the Northern Ireland Embroidery Guild around the same time..
Over the years my work has included many pieces to do with conflict and the havoc and misery it causes to children and families. I use a lot of free machining and other decorative techniques and recently I have been creating my own fabrics by dyeing, screen printing, stamping and sun printing etc. Many pieces incorporate text, often almost hidden. For the theme of Jouneys I chose to work to the theme of Hitchikers.
In 2019 I was awarded the BEM for Services to Textile Art in Northern Ireland.
I am a Textile Artist and itinerant at the moment. My base at present is in Geelong (Australia) though I teach around the world. I love to dye and print fabrics and assemble them into quilts with lots of stitching both by hand and machine.I also create my own linocuts for printing on fabric.
